-
Stitched Insights ran multiple pilots for “some of the biggest media conglomerates” in 2019, expecting to cash in in 2020
-
More than half of the company’s 13 staff are part-time, CEO hopes equity is enough to keep them during a recession
-
The company made $100,000 in revenue last year, CEO expects to break $1 million in 2020
Traditionally, companies used to rely heavily on surveys to do market research. But, as Steve Jobs once said, “people don’t know what they want,” giving an example that if Henry Ford asked people what kind of car they wanted back in the day, they would’ve said “a faster car.”
Stitched Insights doesn’t ask the customers what they want. Instead, they use a natural language processing engine to analyze myriads of customer interactions—like reviews, emails and support requests—to figure out what the customer wants themselves. This, CEO Dmirtiy Pavlov argues, produces better results, and our host Nathan Latka went to investigate why.
The biggest issue, Pavlov says, is that companies with hundreds of thousands of customers have no realistic chance to hear every single one of them out. An AI-based engine, however, can process millions of customer interactions in minutes. The question is: how good of an answer can the machine produce?
Good enough for “some of the largest media conglomerates,” the CEO says, which Stitched closed recently. In total, the company now serves 9 customers.
Stitched Insights Revenue: $100,000 in 2019, CEO Expects $1.5 Million in 2020
In 2019, Stitched Insights managed to bring home around $100,000 in revenue, but Pavlov says most of those contracts were pilot experiments. By the end of 2020, the CEO expects to break $1.5 million in annual revenue.
Investors seem to believe in Pavlov’s product, with his company raising “a little over $100,000” in 2019. The cash enabled the CEO to land the “strategic accounts” he is proud of today. He did, however, make a few “stupid mistakes” along the way, such as buying a $50,000 website they “didn’t really need.”
Pavlov’s team of 13 people is mostly motivated by belief at the company at this point—not cash. “Less than half of the team is full-time at this point,” while the full-time members take a “discounted salary.” Going into one of the largest recessions in recent history, the CEO relies on his team to have “enough buffer” from other income sources.
Is Market Research Needed During a Crisis?
It doesn’t take a statistical analysis to figure out that most customers are anxious due to all the uncertainty surrounding Covid-19. Pavlov argues there’s added value in purchasing Stitched Insights during the times of the pandemic. Namely, he says, it’s useful for companies to track how well their actions impact customer sentiments, and how that compares to the impact of their competitors’ marketing.
“For example, people are really freaked out about face masks. How freaked out? Is it increasing, decreasing? This is sort of important to know,” Pavlov says.
Defending the demand for stitched insights, the CEO alludes to the “life goes on” line of thought. People are not going to stop making toasters, Pavlov says, so they’ll still need market research.
Nathan Latka’s 5 Questions With Stitched Insights CEO Dmitriy Pavlov
- Favorite business book? “Never Split the Difference by Christopher Voss.”
- Is there a CEO Pavlov is studying or following? “Harper Reed.”
- Favorite tool to build Stitched Insights? “Squarespece.”
- How many hours of sleep? Married, single? Kids? Age? “At least 7.5h. Single. I’m 32.”
- What does Pavlov wish his 20 year old self knew? “Eat better. Vegetable oil is terrible, sugar is the devil. Sleep more.”
Funding:
2018:
2019: $100k (interview)
2020:
Revenue:
2018: $60k (old interview)
2019: $100k (interview)
2020: $1.5M (CEO predicts monetizing pilot projects)
Customers:
2018: 5 (old interview)
2019: 9 (interview)
2020:
